I don’t remember why I didn’t play much Civ VI after it came out, I remember really being excited for the gameplay mechanics and watching the streams leading up to the game. I remember thinking it looked like a board game in all the best ways, and I remember being bummed the AI was still pretty terrible, but since I don’t min/max (I am terrible at that in this kind of game anyway) I enjoyed the illusion of challenge even if I was never going to lose. That’s okay for a fun weekend strategy game also.
I do remember finding the religion spam at launch annoying as hell. It’s how I won my first game, but the grind in the end game to over come the AI (all of whom iirc decided to win via religion) drove me mad and I didn’t get much into any future games I’d rolled up.
But, having not touched it since before the first of the DLC from my season pass even came out, I picked up the expansion on a whim and I have to say, I’m really having a blast so far with it. For $25 it seems to have gotten me back in, so I can maybe get some time out of this initial investment.
I really like the new mechanics so far. Governors are really neat and fun to use, Loyalty as a mechanic is clear and easy to follow, and the idea of a revolted Free City is a cool one. I still like all the original mechanics and some of the stuff that I didn’t really enjoy has actually been addressed (like Eureka and Inspirations are 33% instead of 50% boost).
And I am really enjoying the game’s look and feel, moreso than the first time I played. It’s really a striking looking game.
I really, really like the Timeline feature, and how it ties into the Era stuff. I didn’t think I’d like the Era stuff, but damned if I’m not pumped every time I earn an era score point or two. I just earned my first golden age, but have to wait until I’m out of Classical age to see those effects. In the meantime, there was a state of emergency declared on Genghis Khan because he seized control of a city state, and I’m off to give him a bloody nose for it.
